I love food. I love eating it, talking about it, reading about it and especially cooking it.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Our Weekend of Luxury at Inchydoney Island Lodge and Spa

A few weekends ago, I was invited to spend the weekend at Inchydoney Island Lodge and Spa, just outside Clonakilty in West Cork, and I got to bring a guest with me. The Hubs staked his claim before I even got a chance to ask him if he wanted to go, much to the displeasure of Little Sis, my Mum and the Mammy in Law, all of who believed it should have been theirs. Ah well, better luck next time.

Yes, it was sunny in Inchydoney!

We drove down to Inchydoney with a quick pitstop for lunch at Fenns Quay in Cork City and soon we were in Clonakilty, looking for the signs to bring us out to the hotel. On the way, we passed the Model Railway Village and I immediately thought of my late and much loved father in law Damien who loved three things : model railways, the sea and a healthy measure of Irish Mist. Within 15 minutes, we had encountered all three and I knew it was a good omen. The hotel overlooks the Blue Flag public beach and has stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean.

While we waited for our room to be prepared, we were invited to have a seat in front of a roaring fire and a glass of Irish Mist - Damien would have been thrilled. Our room was large, lavish and had a very comfy bed. It also had a Nespresso machine (lovely...), a balcony with stunning ocean views and a plate of chocolates which The Hubs made short work of. We didn't have time to linger as we were booked into the Island Spa for a Seawater Massage Bath. It was much more relaxing than it sounds - water is pumped in from the sea, heated to 31 degrees and you just lie in the giant blue bath while jets of water roll up and down your body. We staggered out afterwards and could barely make our way to the loungers in the Relaxation area where we both promptly nodded off. Marvellous stuff!

We made our way into Clonakilty for dinner and a few drinks before coming back to the hotel for a relatively early night because we had another spa treatment early (10am is the crack of dawn for The Hubs at the weekend...) on Saturday morning. With that in mind, we decided to order breakfast in our room to maximise the snoozing time. I opted for poached eggs on a potato farl with mushrooms while The Hubs had a Coolea cheese, red onion & tomato omelette. They were beautifully presented and tasted magnificent - a rarity for any hotel room service breakfast... we were very impressed. Time to don the bathrobes again and return to the spa for a couples Chocolate Sensualite Ritual where we were scrubbed with a chocolate, orange & marine salt body polish, smothered in a chocolate body wrap and left to bake for 20 minutes before showering it all off and being anointed with a delicious smelling lotion. I smelled like my Chocolate Brownies and absolutely adored the experience, as did The Hubs. Another spell on a lounger in the Relaxation room and it was time for a walk on the beach.

The beach at Inchydoney has Blue Flag status which basically means it's the best. It was long, sandy and great fun to walk along. Apart from us two idiots forgetting to pack the SPF 50 and ending up with spectacular farmers tans... who knew we'd actually get a sunny day in July in Ireland? As it was so sunny, the beach and the public car park filled up really fast and soon the quiet beach was packed with kids building sandcastles and parents trying to read the paper in peace!

Later that afternoon, we decided to forego lunch in favour of Afternoon Tea. It's one of my secret pleasures and this didn't disappoint with delicious open smoked salmon sandwiches, the crumbliest orange spiced scones and delicate tiramisu squares on our cakestand. We had a grandstand view of the gardens where a wedding party having their reception at the hotel, were having photos taken. We also appointed ourselves fashion judges of the guests. What a leisurely way to spend the afternoon...

That evening, we had a special dinner in the Gulfstream Restaurant - it was a specially created Taste of West Cork menu and including canapes and amuse bouche, there were 9 courses in total. We started our epic meal with some canapes in the Lounge which included marinated Macroom beef, salmon tartare and prawns wrapped in potato. We then moved on to Ummera Smoked Chicken ballotine with Rosscarbery celeriac as our Amuse.

Next, we had roast loin of Dunmanway rabbit, stuffed with raisins, pinenuts and spinach, pumpkin puree, Clonakilty black pudding, confit garlic and pesto, followed by beetroot and orange cured salmon with a quail egg, creme fraiche and pomegranate jelly.

Time for a breather. This was a Raspberry Sorbet with a Barry's Tea sherbert lurking on the spoon and it made us giggle a lot. I love retro sweets like Space Dust and Sherbert so I was in my element here. I couldn't detect the tea but the sherbert was very tangy and gave us a much-needed second wind.

This is the last of the photos as the light declined very rapidly, so you'll just have to rely on my descriptions instead. Up there is roasted Cannon of Macroom Lamb, Celeriac Puree and the most divine Royal Potato. It was exquisite and I'm afraid to ask for the recipe as I know it just contained potato and butter, lots and lots of butter. Our next plate was Bere Island Scallops with Pickled Apple, Cured Gubbeen Ham and a Mussel Cream.

Dessert was a West Cork Summer Berry Soup and this was the only letdown of the evening. The berries were liberally sprinkled with rosemary needles which I didn't enjoy. I thought it clashed horribly with the sweet fruit and I couldn't finish it. The meal concluded with a tiny plate of Smoked Gubbeen cheese on homemade cheese biscuits and some handmade chocolate truffles. Luckily the plate was tiny because we were seriously in danger of having a Mr. Creosote moment by this stage...

The following morning, we woke to find that the sun had vanished and we were absolutely starving - one of the contradictions of having a huge meal the previous evening! We made our way back to the Gulfstream Restaurant for breakfast which was unbelievably good. It's all buffet style although there is a small cooked to order menu which includes kippers and pancakes. We started off with good intentions - the homemade Bircher Muesli with pink grapefruit and apricots was very restorative but then we realised we had a long drive home, so ambled up to the hot buffet which was manned by a staff member, so everything was in perfect condition, unlike self service tables in other hotels. It would have been rude not to try the local sausages and rashers, and I needed a white pudding fix...

All too soon, it was time to pack the bags and head for home. Inchydoney Island Lodge and Spa is the most relaxing place I've ever spent a weekend. It's in an idyllic location, has terrific food, fantastic accommodation and most importantly, incredible staff. Everybody smiled and said hello and it was apparent that they genuinely meant it. I can't wait to return.

Follow Me

About Me

Babaduck started life in 2010 to show one friend (Mrs. T) what to make for dinner, step by step and it's grown ever since.
I love writing about all aspects of food and drink, including creating simple easy to follow recipes with lots of photos, restaurant and product reviews, lots of food news and as much travel as I can cram in. I'm a self-confessed Francophile and love almost everything about la belle France, especially the wine. The Hubs is my beloved other half who taste tests all the recipes on your behalf and keeps me on an even keel.
So where did the name come from? The Hubs inspired the name - he calls me Baba & his friends call him The Duck. Simples.

Releases & Reviews

Please feel free to contact me about products for review- I'm happy to host giveaways / competitions for products that I have tried & wish to endorse to my readers. Where I've received a free product for review, I will make it clear that I didn't pay for the item.

I like to create recipes using products sent for review. If you would like to feature my original recipes using your products on your site, let's have a chat.

All opinions in reviews /giveaways will always be my own honest appraisal of a product or service. If you want specific links or text to be included in a review or if you would like to sponsor an entire post, let's have a chat. Posts where I've received a fee to post content will be clearly indicated.

Advertising proposals? Yes we can. Site traffic information is available upon request. Just email babaduck at gmail dot com